SCENE
‘Drive-in’ theater
Chico Theater Co. is back with a fun parking-lot production
ATheater must go on,” in this case despite the pandemic, Chico Company (CTC) is mounting a live theater s if to confirm the old theater adage that “the show
event in—get this—its Eaton Road parking lot. The play is The Diaries of Adam and Eve, and it’s based on the Mark by Twain novel of the same name, as Robert Speer adapted by Ron Fitzgerald. CTC r ober ts peer@ is presenting it on a makeshift but newsrev iew.c om effective stage built against the back Review: of the theater, facing the back parkThe Diaries of ing lot. Attendees arrive in cars and Adam and Eve shows pickups, pull into their reserved spacThursday-Sunday, es and watch the play either from 7:30 p.m., through the comfort of their front seats or, in Oct. 17. Tickets: $10/person; the case of pickups, sitting on lawn $20/carload chairs in the truck beds. (limited space) There is even a concessions stand serving snacks, beer and wine. The Chico Theater Co. 166 Eaton Road, Ste. F arrangement gives new meaning to 894-3282 the phrase “drive-in theater.” chicotheatercompany.com Interviewed before a recent performance, Marc Edson, CTC’s founder and driving force (he directed this production), said going six months without doing live theater was painful for the members of his troupe. Mounting the play was difficult— among other obstacles, they had to get a use permit from the city—but well worth the effort, he said.
Twain published The Diaries of Adam and Eve in 1906, shortly after his much loved wife, Livy, passed away. As many critics have noted, it’s his most personal work, and also the most emotional. As John Updike wrote, “Adam and Eve … gave Twain a path into intimate feelings unapproached by the beguiling, brusquely fantastic, altogether masculine yarns that dominate his oeuvre.” As its title suggests, the novel is written in the form of diary entries, which cleverly allow the first couple to tell their stories separately, giving a he-said/shesaid structure to the tale. In adapting the novel to the stage, Fitzgerald largely merged the two diaries, transforming much of their content into dialogue so as to have both on the stage
It’s time to
DISCOVER
SPRIN SUMMER G/ 2020
FREE
A guide to visiti and liv ng ing North Va in the lley
Butte County INSIDE
:
Ho spend w to a su Saturd nny ay PAGE
30
CN&R
OCTOBER 8, 2020
During a dress rehearsal for The Diaries of Adam and Eve, the Snake (Jeff Dickinson) offers the forbidden fruit to Eve (Holly Quick). PHOTO BY RANDY ROSS
so many bad guys he’s the most entertaining figure on the stage. Here he’s played by veteran local actor Jeff Dickinson for laughs as much as nastiness. From the moment we meet him (he’s singing “Sympathy for the Devil” at the time), we’re drawn to his dangerous cheerfulness. Dickinson is terrific in this kind of role, and he lifts the production way up when he’s on stage. That’s not to say there’s something lacking in the performances of Holly Quick as Eve and Alex Limper as Adam. Far from it. But they’re the good guys, and goodness is never as fraught as evil. Ω
Western Dental seeks F/T Dentists for Chico Location Must have DDS or DMD degree or foreign equivalent and valid CA dental license.
A Guide to Visiting and Living in the North Valley
Available on stands this July • FREE
much of the time. This is a love story, after all. It takes some time for that love to manifest, however. At first, Adam resents Eve’s sudden presence in his heretofore peaceful and quiet life alone. “It” talks too much, he says. And what’s with this constant naming of things? Adam, it turns out, is lazy and incurious, while Eve is enthusiastic in her appreciation of the wonderful world around them. Of course, we know how this story turns out, so the fun is in the getting there. That fun increases exponentially when the third character in the play, the Snake, enters the picture. He’s the requisite bad guy—the primordial bad guy, we might say—and like
62
Email resume to: Recruiting@WesternDental.com